Blog - A ‘people’s vote’ on the Brexit deal would be a disaster – for one simple reason

Think politics is in a mess? Believe it or not, it could be worse. Far worse. A group of Remainers are demanding what they call a “people’s vote” on the final Brexit deal. Imagine, for the sake of argument, that the Prime Minister consented. What would the ballot paper say?

Perhaps it would give us only two options: either “Endorse the Government’s deal”, or “Leave without a deal”. Well, that wouldn’t be much good. The Government’s deal could be a total dud. That doesn’t automatically mean that “no deal” would be popular, though. Many voters – including plenty who voted Leave in 2016 – wouldn’t fancy either option.

In which case, the ballot paper could offer a third option: “Send the Government…